88 Tasting Notes

I bought the original ‘Secret Garden’ back in 2016, and I drank that one in less than 2 months. However, when I saw that Bitterleaf Teas was releasing the same version of it this year, I had to blindly buy it. It was safe to say, I wasnt dissapointed. It reminded of the 2016 version so much, however, it still had a wet taste from pressing. This is certainly one worth revisiting in a month or so.

I treid last year’s In Bloom and I must say, this years version is a vast improvement. This tea gave off the tasting notes of orchid, sugar, green grass, and plums. It was very sweet, flavorful, and brothy. One thing I like about In Bloom was how noticeable and upfront its floral tasting notes were. Anohter thing I liked was how flavorful it was. I blindly bought this beeng, and im glad that I did.

Preparation

Naka first started out thick and full of flavor. It was really flavorfuil, oily, and very powerful. I brewed this tea warrior style (1g/10ml), and got around 22 infusions out of it. One thing I liked about Naka was that its hella complex, and right when I though I figured it out, it subtly changed again. Another aspect about this tea that I liked was that it left a heavy fragrant aftertaste in the back of the throat, and the longer the infusion, the longer the aftertaste.

I originally bought 50g of this tea, and after a week of recieving my order, it was all gone. I then ordered 300g more of it, and already consumed another 50g of it. This white is flavorful and complex. It’s easy to brew and highly accesable. I have brewed this tea many times, and in the future, will contunue to. Once I run out of this tea, I’ll probably buy more if it to store for further aging.

One thing about Jade Rabbit that I liked was its complex tasting notes which seemed to continually change throughout the session. Another thing about this tea that I liked was the number of infusions I was able to get out of it (15). This tea was thick, burly, and was complex in many ways. Considering that this is CLT’s first spring 2018 release, it’s one hell of a way to kick off the year.

One thing I liked about this tea was how clean and clear the material was. Another aspect I like about this tea is its surprisingly thick texture — especially considering this tea’s price point. Although I didn’t get a lot of qi (energy) from drinking this tea, it proved to be a relaxing session nonetheless. This tea proves to be a fun, yet accessable daily drinker. It’s something that I’ll look foward to having again in the near future.

Overall, Year of the Rooster was a good send-off to White2Tea’s 2017 Fall production line, and left a good impression as far as energy goes. I would recommend this tea to those who love strong characteristics of being thick and savory.

Preparation

As many of my followers may know, I generally hate black tea and avoid it at all costs. I’ve never bought any for my own consumption, and usually get grossed out at the idea of it.

However, I got a care package from Kuura and they included a mini coin-size version of this tea and I tought to myself, “ew”. However, I didn’t want it to go to waste, and it did smell decent. So I thought “why not” and gave it a go. Below is a photo for reference…

After taking advice from Char from Oolong Owl and James (@shredsofmetal), I dropped this 7g coin into my 100ml pot and gave it a go. For my first steep, it tasted watery (since the leaves were still compressed very tightly). But as the infusion times went on, the tea kept opening up to this sweet, malt-like spice infusion that continued to expand in the mouth. After a few more infusions, the flavors began to settle down and became smooth and velvety. Along with lovely tasting notes and a beautiful texture, this tea also had amazing energy — which seemed to wake me up!

Thanks to this tea, I will no longer be apprehensive to trying black tea again in the future. I now feel confident.

Little O first started out very earthy in taste. However, the longer Little O steeped for, the more it tasted like sweet orange peel. In fact, by the last infusion, the taste of orange peel was still going strong even though the tea leaves we’re spent. I reallty like this little coin because its convenient, and easy to drink. Even if oversteeped, this tea still turned out delicious.